Shen He hadn't expected to stumble upon such a surprise just by going out for a stroll tonight.
This time, Banner's location had been exposed. Coupled with the information that Ikeda Koji had revealed, one could imagine that Mr. Banner wouldn't have an easy time tomorrow.
As for the person suspected of sniping Banner in the bustling city, there was no need to think to guess who they were from. Even after being suppressed to this state, Hydra was still persistent.
It seems that the plan must be put into action.
After returning to his residence, he went to the instance world for an instance mission as usual when midnight arrived.
The experience gains from fighting in the activity instance were still very high. Over this period, Shen He's level had reached thirty-six, and the levels of the other Servants had also significantly increased. Excluding a few Servants who hadn't started leveling up, Saiki, Jeanne, and Ryougi Shiki's average level had reached twenty-five.
This made Shen He wish he could postpone the end of the activity instance a little longer.
After returning to the Marvel world, he was too lazy to sleep, so he pulled Jeanne and Violet to play Dou Dizhu until dawn.
And around six in the morning, news finally arrived that some factions had begun searching for Banner.
"Let's go. We'll avoid the others' eyes."
Shen He stood up, taking only Jeanne with him as they entered the forest.
The military, which should have been guarding the area and preventing anyone from entering, was, Shen He noticed, allowing entry in exchange for Gold Bars. The more people who entered, the more Gold Bars were required, a blatant act of bribery.
"Come on, let's put on the Robes."
Two black Robes with gold thread embroidery suddenly appeared on Shen He's wrist, complete with Hoods. The Chaldea Emblem on the right chest was particularly eye-catching.
It was almost time for Chaldea to gradually appear in the eyes of the world. They had to slowly establish the organization's image. Uniform attire was just the first step, and everyone else had them.
"I feel... embarrassed," Jeanne said, pouting slightly as she put hers on.
"You haven't seen those superhero spandex suits, have you? Those are way more embarrassing!"
Shen He was very displeased with the assessment of embarrassment. This was something he had carefully selected from dozens of designs. It was comfortable, stylish, could be adjusted for tightness or looseness, and wouldn't affect combat.
"Alright, alright." Jeanne, after tying her robe, pushed Shen He forward. "I just 'saw' Banner being surrounded. We should hurry over there."
Banner was indeed surrounded by a group of people. After noticing someone approaching, his first reaction was to escape, but as a physicist, how could he possibly outrun these combat personnel who lived on the edge?
"You'd better not point those things at me," Banner said, looking at the gun barrels pointed at him. "The person who can kill me probably hasn't been born yet. If you accidentally fire, you're all finished."
Such words had no effect. Everyone continued to cautiously point their guns at him.
Even though the images on television had already demonstrated the weakness of such weapons, firearms were still far stronger than a much weaker human. Gripping the weapons tightly was purely an instinctive behavior to seek a sense of security when facing a monster.
"Doctor Banner." Someone who knew Banner's identity spoke up. "As long as you come with us without resisting, I think we can help you. We can provide funding, equipment, and personnel, everything you could want."
"Everything I want?"
Banner stood up from the ground, and just that movement made everyone take a few steps back.
"What I want most right now is to end this damn life of mine. Can you do that? No, you're just a bunch of bastards who have no respect for power. Get out of here before I lose my temper. I won't feel a shred of guilt if I have to get rid of you."
These people looked at each other, and even though they came from different factions, they reached a consensus at this moment.
That was to control Banner first, and then compete with each other for ownership of this monster.
Bang——
A Tranquilizer Dart, enough to sedate an elephant, was fired, but it froze in mid-air.
Then, before anyone could react, their weapons all flew out of their hands, twisting and compressing into a large pile of scrap metal.
Next to the scrap metal, a man in a black Robe, with pink hair, floated silently.
This bizarre scene plunged the entire place into a strange silence.
It took a full four or five seconds before those who had lost their weapons, unable to control their fear, turned and ran. But they quickly retreated even faster, tumbling back to Banner's side, some even collapsing into unconsciousness.
Several others, also wearing this kind of attire, slowly walked out. Even though there were only five of them, they gave the impression that they had surrounded dozens of people.
"Who are you?"
The only one who could remain calm was Banner.
After all, even stranger things had happened to him.
"Chaldea, that's the name of our organization."
Shen He walked over step by step, standing right in front of Banner, his eyes fixed on him.
"So, you're here to lock me up too?" Banner's expression held a hint of mockery.
In his opinion, this new group of people was no different from the others, either spying on him or fearing him.
"Shouldn't you be locked up?" Shen He countered, then added before Banner could get angry, "Five hundred and thirty-two people. That's the number of civilians who have died in the incident from the day before yesterday. The place where you went berserk happened to be a densely populated slum area."
"..."
The anger that had just welled up in Banner was suppressed by this cold number.
"This is truly a disaster," he murmured to himself, sadly covering his face.
Any person with a normal moral compass would feel a crushing sadness. These were innocent, ordinary people, many of them children whose lives were just beginning. Countless families were being torn apart in this moment.
"This is indeed a disaster." Shen He's face showed little emotion. "Although the real culprit is the person who shot you in the city center, your existence gave them the opportunity. This is a responsibility you cannot shirk. Therefore, the best place for you to avoid another disaster is in a cage."
"What right do you have—" Banner suddenly grabbed Shen He's shoulder and roared.
The people around were startled by the sound and scattered, shouting almost simultaneously, but they were quickly thrown back by an invisible force.
Even though he was grabbed by the shoulder and roared at, Shen He was not angry, nor was he afraid.
"Chaldea's principle..." Shen He looked into Banner's eyes. "Is to protect the Human Order. We shouldn't interfere in such matters, but... we all still have the most basic kindness of being human... You do too, but the other you inside your body, he doesn't. He's just a child consumed by anger."
"Don't try to deceive me!"
Banner still held onto Shen He's shoulder, his face filled with fury.
"I haven't transformed in over a year. It's because of people like you that I'm being targeted! Why can't you just leave me alone!"
He had spent the past year desperately suppressing his anger, and he'd even begun to believe he had it under control, otherwise, he never would have gone into such a crowded area.
"You can ask them why they can't leave you alone," Shen He said, raising his hand slightly. A few individuals, clearly in charge, flew over. "You should have heard of Chaldea. After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., we took over some of their responsibilities. We've been warning everyone to stay away from Banner, but it seems our efforts have had little effect."
"Let… let us go," one of them said with difficulty. "We promise we won't come back."
The situation's strangeness had exceeded their ability to cope. They had indeed received warnings from a force claiming to be Chaldea, but most of them hadn't taken it seriously.
"They promised, Banner," Shen He turned to look at Banner. "Do you believe them?"
Believe… how could he possibly believe them?
Banner wasn't a fool. He knew perfectly well that people like this wouldn't stop coming. Even if these people stopped, new ones would appear, and even the Americans wouldn't let him go.
He thought he could hide, but in the end, he'd always be found like this.
"Looks like you don't believe me?" Shen He reached out and moved Banner's hand from his shoulder. "I don't believe it either. You didn't take our warnings seriously, and now that things have gone wrong, you want to just turn around and leave? It's not going to be that easy. Let me see... you have the Meguro Group, the Triads, the Italian Mafia, the Ten Rings, the Malik Family, the Russian Military... and even Israeli Intelligence?"
As Shen He rattled off the names of these forces, the expressions of those present grew increasingly shocked.
Many of them had come in disguise, secret organizations, and even intelligence agencies from various countries, yet their identities were being exposed one after another.
No one here could resist Saiki's telepathy.
"Tsk tsk." Shen He listed all the names of the forces, clicking his tongue twice. "The scope of the forces represented by the people here almost covers every corner of the globe, Banner, do you still think you can escape?"
Banner's face was ashen.
Although he had long known that a group of people had been eyeing him, he had never imagined it would come to this.
As Shen He said, the whole world was now looking for him. The peace of the past year was likely due to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s efforts. Now that S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone, his peaceful life had vanished, and he could foresee endless harassment in the days to come.
"There's no place for you in this world anymore, Banner," Shen He finally patted Banner on the shoulder. "Why not come back to the cage with us? Although you'll lose your freedom, at least you won't hurt any innocent people."
"..." Banner was silent.
The term "cage" wasn't actually taboo for him.
What he feared, or rather, what he loathed, wasn't the loss of freedom, but being seen as a monster. However, he now had to admit that he was indeed a complete monster, which filled his heart with deep sorrow.
This sorrow seemed not only his own, but also the Hulk's.
-----------------------
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